Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Doesn’t See His Shadow, Signaling Early Spring

In the midst of a historic cold snap, Groundhog Day brought good news this year, as Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring.

The Groundhog Day traditions were observed as usual in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, despite the temperature of 2 degrees Fahrenheit. This year, Phil the woodchuck peaked his head out and did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring for the U.S.

It was welcome news all over the country, as a polar vortex brought record-low temperatures to parts of the Midwest this week, and made for freezing temperatures elsewhere as well. Weather Channel producer Trish Ragsdale tweeted that it was 2 degrees in Punxsutawney itself on Saturday morning, as reporters turned out for coverage of the event.

Groundhog Day goes back over a hundred years, and it is one of winter’s most wholesome traditions. As meteorologist Jared Silverman pointed out this year, it is something of a one-sided pass-time. According to his info-graphic, since 1887, Punxsutawney Phill has seen his shadow 104 times, signaling six more weeks of winter. Meanwhile, he has not seen his shadow just 19 times — counting this year — meaning an early spring.

In reality, it can be hard to put too much faith in the groundhog’s prediction. There is a bit of a thaw ahead in the U.S., according to the Weather Channel, but more freezing temperatures loom in the coming weeks as well, and it seems like winter is far from over.

In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has officially stated that Punxsutawney Phil has “no predictive skill.” According to NOAA’s data, Phill has made the right prediction about 40% of the time in the last ten years.

Just last year, many were upset with the groundhog when he predicted six more weeks of winter. He turned out to be wrong, as 2018 saw a relatively mild February and March. This qualified as an early spring for many people. Meanwhile, in 2017, Phil saw his shadow as well, but February of that year was the second-warmest on record.

This year is different, largely because Phil has told people what they wanted to hear. As many joked on Twitter, they did not put much faith in Groundhog Day, but they were still heartened by the news of an early spring.

If nothing else, the holiday is a happy occasion for Bill Murray fans. The holiday has many people re-watching the time travel classic, and one TV channel in the United Kingdom is running an all-day marathon of Groundhog Day. The movie is available to stream on Amazon Prime, YouTube, iTunes and more, and is playing several times on the channel Pop in the U.S.